The CFPB Stands Up to Banks' Overblown Financial Firepower

Republicans claim that allowing Richard Cordray to head the CFPB imbues him with too much power, ignoring the immense influence on the other side of the equation.

This week's credit check: The 10 Republicans blocking Richard Cordray's nomination have received over $31 million in campaign cash from the financial sector. The median American family saw yearly earnings fall $5,261 over the past decade.

The least remarkable part of yesterday's Senate Banking Committee hearing on Richard Cordray, President Obama's nominee to head the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), was Cordray's testimony itself. In fact, Republicans made it clear that his credentials are not what's up for debate. Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) called a recent meeting with him "pleasant" and Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) said he has a "good background." Rather, they want to debate whether his post should exist at all. Their reasoning? That having one person in charge of this new watchdog will imbue Cordray with far too much power. As Shelby put it, "No one person should have so much unfettered power over the American people."

But what of the power of the opposition, the banks themselves, who stand to have new oversight and regulation from someone on the side of the average consumer? If we're going to talk about power imbalances, we might want to look at what the financial sector can marshal against the American people. Elizabeth Warren herself, the originator of the idea for the CFPB, estimates that it will police a $3 trillion consumer financial services industry. And Wall Street, along with its other corporate counterparts, is doing pretty well compared to the rest of us. Corporate profits have taken in 88 percent of the raise in national income since the recovery began, while household incomes only took in 1 percent.

It's not just profits banks wield in this fight, however. That money can easily turn into lobbying and campaign contributions. As Ari Berman reported in June, "According to the Center for Responsive Politics, 156 groups -- the vast majority representing corporate interests -- lobbied the government about the CFPB in the second half of 2010 and the first quarter of 2011. The list ranged from JPMorgan Chase to McDonald's." The Chamber of Commerce even has an entire division devoted to fighting Dodd-Frank, and it spent $17 million on federal lobbying in the first quarter of this year with a dozen lobbyists focused on just the CFPB.

Individual Republican Senators are also getting lavish gifts from the financial sector while opposing its newest regulator. The 10 Republican members of the Senate Banking Committee, who signed a letter to Obama in May demanding debilitating changes to the CFPB before any candidate can be confirmed, have received over $31 million in campaign cash from the financial sector during their time in Congress. Meanwhile, Sen. Shelby himself has taken $6.2 million from the financial sector, including about $1 million from commercial banks. His top career donors include JP Morgan ($140,771), Citigroup ($109,199), and Goldman Sachs ($67.600).

Compare all that financial firepower to what's going on for everyday Americans. A new report from the Pew Charitable Trusts shows that nearly one in three Americans who grew up middle-class has fallen out of that group. It's not hard to see why so many people are moving down the ladder when wages have been heading in the same direction. While the financial sector is bringing in $3 trillion, the median American family saw yearly earnings fall $5,261 over the past decade, from $52,388 in 2000 to $47,127 in 2010.

Things are even worse for low-income families. Over the past 10 years, the percentage of children living in poverty has soared, increasing by 18 percent, or 2.4 million more, from 2000-2009. These children and their families are set to fall on even harder times, as states slash vital services to balance their budgets. They face the loss of unemployment benefits, income tax credits, and cash assistance, among other safety net supports.

Those who find themselves in such financial hardship have one place to turn when they can't make ends meet: debt. Credit card companies already employ a variety of tactics to entice middle-class families into debt and keep them there. But those tactics will be under strict scrutiny if the CFPB has its full powers. Low-income families often find themselves prey to unregulated non-banks like payday lenders and check cashers, but those will also come under the supervision of the Bureau.

The CFPB isn't taking on dictatorial powers. It's standing up to the formidable forces preying upon struggling American consumers.